the area. picking up the volume in oakland. watch for slick conditions. be careful. >> be careful, that's for sure. next newscast coming up at midday, and we'll have local news updates at 7:25 and every half hour after. >> thanks for starting your morning here with us on "today in the bay." have a great morning. bed by a . >> let's get right to al. we're talking about dangerous winter storms could auto. good morning. ready, set, no. powerful back to back winter storms about to bear down on the entire country from california all the way to maine. dangerous conditions from snow, ice and freezing rain and a travel nightmare through the weekend. al has what we need to know. from bad to worse, the u.s. economy now expected to take a much bigger hit than first thought from the government shutdown. the ripple effects from the fight over the president's border wall that could be about to hit your pocketbook. hotel horror, an american among 14 killed during a terror attack at a popular luxury resort in kenya.

what his grieving family is saying this morning and officials on the hunt for those involved. >> all that plus on the hot seat. william barr making clear the russia investigation is not a witch-hunt. race against time, rescuers called in to help a toddler trapped in a well. and extremely unhappy, netflix rolls out its biggest price hike ever and a nation of bing watchers revolts. today is wednesday, january 16th, 2019. >> from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> good morning, everybody. welcome to "today." nice to have you with us on a wednesday morning. are you ready to get cold? >> really. and it's rare like this the whole country is affected bay

storm from coast to coast. >> this affects every single one of us. let's get right to al. we're talking about dangerous winter storms could affect us from coast to coast. what have you got? >> officials are going door to door about evacuations because of the mudslide possibilities. then you get into the sierra and we're talking upwards of three inches of snow over the next couple of days. the upper elevations. here is what we're looking at. we've got heavy showers and thunderstorms rolling in from san francisco all the way down to san diego. right now, we've got wind advisories, blizzard warnings, high surf advisories, winter storm warnings and flash flood watches all for california. rainfall amounts generally widespread, 2 to 3 inches, mudslides, flooding will be a problem. but we could see upwards of 8 inches of rain. that system makes its way to the east. thursday, it's snow for cleveland and buffalo. snow for the appalachians, a quick round of rain and snow.

this moves through rather rapidly, dropping maybe an inch or two. here is the real big weathermaker. this second storm system in california today, by friday, it's bringing snow to denver, omaha, chicago, heavy rain down into the southern plains. saturday, the snow stretches from st. louis, cincinnati, buffalo, boston, new york city and then we're looking at that late day snow is in the northeast. it's heavy rain along the coast, but by sunday, the backside of this system brings in much colder air. so let's look at some of the snowfall totals we're looking at right now. don't want to give you actual accumulations, but we're seeing moderate snow from central missouri into the northeast with heavier snow from western new england. moderate snow new york to philly. there will be a heavy rain event. wide spread, 1 to 2 inches of rain from the coast of new england, new york, down into the delmarva peninsula. and look at how far back that

rain goes, all the way down into louisiana and texas. guys, this is going to be a very potent storm. back to you. >> al, thank you so much. now to fresh concerns about the government shutdown. new information from the trump administration shows it is impacting the economy far greater than previously estimated. tens of thousands of workers are being called back to work without pay. >> tom costello, good morning. >> hoda, good morning. this one is run by celebrity chef jose andreas. they are up and running early. this is chef jason. he has quinox going early this morning. expecting 2,000 federal employees to come for free food later today and we're seeing this across the country, acts of kindness, free food at food

banks just as the signs that this is going to be a significant economic issue. thush stabbeds to show this be sulg the shutdown continues through march. delta airlines says it's costing $25 million a month in lost business as government employees and contractors are not flying. with faa inspectors on furlough, delta is now delaying the rollout of its newest aircraft, the a 220. >> we're not taking sides on the debate. we need to get the business moving again. >> mitch mcconnell tells nbc news he would not override a trump veto if congress were to vote to reopen government. >> in a situation like this where the president in my view is in the right place trying to get the right outcome as all of us have expressed with regard to border security, of course not. >> both congress and the president are getting paid,

though mr. trump donates his money, but 42,000 men and women in the coast guard are now among the federal workers going without pay. >> it impacts your sleeping. it impacts your overall stress level, and it just -- this keeps going on for a long time, and it's going to have an adverse impact on everyone's operational readiness. >> the coast guard addressing the issue in a letter to service members on tuesday writing in part, to the best of my knowledge, this marks the first time in our nation's history that the service members in a u.s. armed force have not been paid during a lapse in government appropriations. i recognize the anxiety and uncertainty the situation places on you and your family. in kodiak, alaska, a coast guard time through and through business at king's diner is down 50%. >> we all depend on them very much. we just want them to know that we're behind and we'll help them any way we can. >> across the country, a miami airport restaurant is feeding tsa officers working without

pay. >> a little meal goes a long way to someone's mentality, their psychological, and their self-esteem. >> from florida to california, tennessee to massachusetts, food banks for strapped government workers. in iowa farmers were supposed to receive federal loans to offset the trade war, but those loans are now delayed. the american astronaut on the space station is still being paid, but her support staff at nasa isn't. back on earth, anger from some of the 95% of nasa workers who have been furloughed and are paying the price. >> reporter: a bunch of government unions, worker unions, requested a federal judge order the trump administration to start paying federal workers who are working without pay. that judge declined, so that means the shutdown continues and the workers continue to work without pay. meanwhile, the food bank today here opens at 11:00. guys, back to you. >> all right, tom, thank you. and now to the fight over william barr, the president's pick for attorney general. he was on the hot seat on capitol hill yesterday for the

start of his confirmation hearings, and he vowed he would not interfere with robert mueller's russia investigation. >> reporter: good morning to you. we are not expected to see william barr today as outside witnesses will testify on the nominee for attorney general's behalf. barr, who is poised to assume control of the russia investigation in front of top lawmakers tuesday committed to protect the special counsel's inquiry, but he also suggested robert mueller's report itself might not be made public. >> the senate judiciary committee on the hunt for answers. >> do you believe mr. mueller would be involved in a witch hunt against anybody? >> i don't believe mr. mueller would be involved in a witch hunt. >> getting attorney general nominee william barr's take on president trump's attacks on the russia investigation. >> the witch hunt that's been going on forever. >> this is a witch hunt. >> barr repeatedly defending the man leading the inquiry, his friend bob mueller. >> and i said bob is a straight

shooter and should be dealt with as such. >> grilled about his past criticism of the russia investigation and unsolicited memo he shared with the president's lawyers last year, barr refused to say whether he would recuse himself from the inquiry, even if career justice department ethics officials recommend it. >> under what scenario would you not follow their recommendation? >> if i disagreed with it. >> what would the basis of that disagreement be? >> i came to a different judgment. >> barr pressed what he would do if president trump ordered him to fire mueller. >> assuming there was no good cause? >> assuming there was no good cause. >> i would not carry out that instruction. >> and he insisted the president would be crossing a red line if he interfered with an investigation for personal reasons. >> if a president attempts to intervene in a matter that he has a stake in to protect himself, that should first be looked at as a breach of his constitutional duties. >> would he release the mueller report in full?

barr pledged to be as transparent as legally allowed. >> i don't know what -- at the end of the day what will be releasable. i don't know what bob mueller is writing. >> the former a.g. back for another stint asserting his own independence. >> i will not be bullied into doing anything i think is wrong by anybody whether it be editorial boards or congress or the president. >> and later offering his own views of the president's use of the term witch hunt. >> i think it's understandable that if someone felt they were falsely accused they would view an investigation as something like a witch hunt where someone like you or me who doesn't know the facts, you know, might not use that term. >> top democrats are raising questions about the nominee. >> he was clearly testifying for an audience of one, that person being donald trump.

>> reporter: the white house nancy pelosi is suggesting president trump reschedule his state of the union address or that he deliver it in writing unless the shutdown ends this week. pelo pelosi cites security concerns knowing that the department of homeland security are impacted by the shutdown. oversees, we're keeping an eye on things. >> the investigation into this brazen terror attack on an upscale hotel in kenya. at least 14 people have been killed, including an american businessman. nbc's kelly cobiella joins us from nairobi with the latest. kelly, good mo>> reporter: craig to you. a somber day here in kenya and an active scene still behind me. we heard an explosion coming from the hotel. government officials saying that kenyan security forces are still clearing this hotel complex.

there's grenades inside and still some people waiting to get out. kenya's president says the crisis is essentially over and the suspects are dead. >> the deadly assault began tuesday afternoon with an explosion that targeted three vehicles in a parking lot of the luxury hotel complex in nairobi. >> oh, god. >> it was followed by a suicide bomb in the hotel's lobby. security cameras showing gunmen storming the building to begin their deadly rampage. >> a shooting from all over the place, employees are running all over the place. people are screaming. >> terrified guests escaped from windows hiding wherever they could. dozens of armed police moved in, some soldiers leading hundreds of people to safety while others with guns drawn hunted inside the hotel for the killers. those outside trying to make sense of the chaos. >> everyone was just running everywhere. >> american jason spindler was among those killed in the

assault on the hotel. >> one american guy. >> they tell me he died. >> spindler's mother sarah confirming that she was informed of his death by the u.s. embassy. in a statement she added we all miss him so much and it's so sad that such a bright young person is taken away by terrorism. he was trying to make a positive change in emerging markets. the terror group al shabaab claiming responsibility for the attack in a statement. five years ago the same group attacked the nearby west gate shopping mall killing 67. in the aftermath kenya's president addressed the nation live to declare all the assailants dead. >> we have dealt with the threat decisively and shown our enemies and the world that we as a country are ready to deal with

any threat to our nation. >> reporter: the u.s. state department has condemned the attack as a senseless act of violence. jason spindler was actually a survivor of the 9/11 attacks. he joined the peace corps, then later became the ceo of an international business consulting firm based here in nairobi. he had been living in nairobi for five years, and he was getting ready to celebrate his 41st birthday next week. craig, hoda, savannah. back to you guys. >> kelly cobiella for us. thank you. breaking news from syria, a u.s. official says at least four american soldiers have been killed by an explosion in northern syria. at least three others were wounded. a top official tells nbc news the americans were leading a foot patrol of forces when they were approached by a suicide bomber who detonated his device. choppers were called in to help evacuate the victims. we have a lot more to get to

including the new details about the wisconsin teen's alleged abductor. authorities say he was making plans for a new career, even as he held closs captive. ron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. the gruesome crime that jayme witnessed, the brutal murder of her parents, was unthinkable here in barron, but those who know the suspect say they can't believe he's the one who has been charged with orchestrating it all. >> this morning people in two communities rocked by these chilling crimes are wondering what if. >> i feel bad being so close and having to hear it and realize what i didn't do. >> joan and tom said they didn't think to call 911 after they heard the gunshots the night jake patterson allegedly shot and killed james and denise closs and kidnapped their daughter jayme holding her captive for 88 days. >> that's what i can't live down is the fact that we could have made a difference. >> due to the charges here. >> the criminal complaint against patterson reveals

authorities may have just missed him. investigators say the 21-year-old told them about 20 seconds after he escaped from the closs home with jayme bound in his trunk he yielded to three passing squad cars with lights and sirens headed towards the crime scene. those deputies responding to the 911 call denise made before she was killed. officials saying screaming could be heard in the background. a wholesale liquor distributor 40 miles away from his home telling nbc news patterson applied for a job online the day before jayme got away. writing i'm an honest and hardworking guy, not much work experience but i show up to work and i'm a quick learner. for work experience, patterson listed he was in the marines for nine months back in 2017, but the marines say he was discharged after only five weeks in 2015, indicating the character of his service was incongrewent with marine corps expectations and standards. >> reporter: there was a $50,000 reward tied to this case. the couple who made the 911 call to say jayme was safe in their home say they don't want the money.

if anyone deserves it, they say it's request jayme because she ended this search. >> that's going to be a long healing process for that little girl. ron, thank you. a climber who got lost on oregon's mount hood is safe this morning. the man was actually found by a news helicopter from kgw, that's our nbc affiliate there in portland. you can see him waving his arms back and forth. several hours after being spotted, rescue crews were able to reach the hiker and guide him down that mountain. meanwhile, the experienced climber was not hurt. we bring in al, boy, we're just going to be hanging on every word. >> we're ready. >> we do have some icy travel making its way through the upper ohio river valley into western new york and western p.a. snowy conditions through the rockies turning much colder in the plains. that next big storm lurking off the pacific northwest coast. we're going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. heyo, lena, it's chad!

did you hear, my app just got massive funding. oh wow really? tell me more... ok! i call it the "cat-culato" it's a calculator, but for your cat. meow. i just got the idea when my cat stepped on my calculator. oh, thank goodness! hi, lena! is now a good time to go through your tax return line-by-line together? yeah! line-by-line sounds awesome and...please, take your time. it's my cpa, so i have to take. give me a call, we'll talk. uh! i won't, but thanks. awesome, talk then. hey stacey... turbotax live now with cpa's on demand. question will have the power of heavy rain, the main impacts we're looking at, one to four inches of rain, which will elevate our flood risk and also create some high wind speeds and also some high waves along the coast, and as we go into the next few days, we are looking at

some clear are weather, headed into the weekend. savannah. >> al, thank you so much 37 coming up, the desperate search for a toddler trapped for days after falling down a narrow well. a team of americans just called in to help overnight. we'll be live with the latest. and i have a question for you, is savannah really leaving the "today" show to start her own skin care line? if you read the internet you might think that's true. we're going to investigate those fake ads everywhere online. >> we're going to miss you. >> i hope my cream shows up. first this "today" on nbc.

. just ahead, do you have an allergy to penicillin? maybe not. then, netflix and bill, the price hike that's not sitting well with binge watchers this morning. first, metastatic breast cancer is relentless,

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and ah mother nature sure doesn't cut any corners when she paints a morning like that. and we know there is no shortcut to quality. and that's why we use nothing but the very best sausage that money can buy. paint yourself a beautiful morning. we are in a microclimate a very good morning to you. it is 7:36. i'm laura garcia. we are in a microclimate weather alert with a major storm approaching. live look at san francisco right now. meteorologist kari hall is tracking the coming storm. >> right now, we see breaks in the clouds, some breezy winds and every now and then passing showers. storm ranger is tracking some wide rain and the bigger storm system still yet to move in. as we see the center of the storm well to the west of us, even some live lightning strikes picked up offshore and we'll have that chance as we go throughout the day, as our winds continue to increase. we will see a wind advisory going into effect for the valleys, where winds may reach 40 miles per hour and for the darker shaded brown, that's the

coast and the hills, under a high wind warning for the afternoon, with gusts reaching possibly 60 miles per hour. we will also be under a flash flood watch. we'll have to watch those burn scar areas, creeks and streams may rise rapidly, as the heavy rain moves in for the afternoon. we're mostly going to see that in time for the evening commute, during the overnight hours, and then gradually this system will move out tomorrow, with the winds winding down throughout the day. by friday, we're seeing some drier weather and saturday issiis looking nice. another chance of spotty showers on sunday. we're track that and more updates throughout the morning. mike, how are the roads moving? >> not so bad. look over on the left, the arrow southbound 101, they've had to close that slow lane up at waldo grade around spencer avenue, there's a little bit of mud sliding down the roadway, and a tree perhaps at risk as well. chp is heading out there, we know about it as well. the rest of the bay shows a smooth flow of traffic. the san mateo bridge and the dumbarton bridge are still

slowing. number of crashes on the shoulder at union city and slow westbound with the tail lights and brake lights tapping. back to you. >> we'll keep tabs oen that. another local update in half an hour.

back now, 7:30. that is a piece of history here in new york. it is gone in a splash, in a flash. a section of the old tappan zee bridge taken down with explosives. that bridge has been around since 1955. they're going to replace it with another one. >> i felt like my 2-year-old would really like this. he's always knocking over the blocks. >> i take that bridge frequently back home. >> not anymore you don't. >> the new bridge is nice. >> i bet it is.

let's get a check of the headlines. there's new concern this morning that this government shutdown is impacting the overall economy far more than previously estimated. jamie dimon, the ceo of jpmorgan chase is warning that first quarter economic growth for the country could be wiped out if this shutdown continues through march. in the meantime, delta airlines says it's costing $25 million a month in lost business because government employees and contractors aren't flying anymore. overnight the irs is attempting to calm concerns that tax refunds are not going to be issued on time. it's recalling about 46,000 employees without pay ahead of the busy tax season. a big shake-up overnight at the university of north carolina chapel hill, all surrounding the removal of a controversial monument. just hours after the remnants of silent sam were removed from campus, the school's chancellor was forced out. chancellor carol folt announced on monday that she had authorize ed the removal of the monument's

base and she would resign from her position in may. the unc board of governors called for her departure at the end of this month instead. the statue was toppled last august by a group who called the monument racist. a 7th grader from michigan is making history for his outstanding play on the football field. his name is isaiah marshal, he is the youngest football player to ever receive a scholarship offer from a division one school. that offer coming from jim harbaugh himself, the head coach of the university of michigan. harbaugh saw that 13-year-old quarterback play on tuesday, was apparently so moved by the performance he picked up the phone and reached out to his dad hours later. of course because of the rules, the football phenom can't make it official until his senior year in high school. >> 7th grade and he got a college offer? >> at this rate he'll be in the pros by the time he's 18.

>>. we do have an overnight update on that operation to locate and rescue a toddler who fell down a web in spain. bill neely has the very latest. hey, bill, good morning. >> good morning, guys, it is now day four, and it's clear that for the parents of that little boy every day is torture. the father saying this morning they are broken, almost dead but still clinging to hope. more equipment and more rescuers have been brought in including people who were involved in one other miraculous rescue, and a miracle is what they're praying for. >> the sight of a sunday picnic is now the scene of a desperate international rescue. on the hillside now holes are being dug, rescuers flown in, heavy equipment sent, and delicate sensors deployed to listen for any signs of life from 2-year-old yulen. his father braved the cameras this morning.

you can only imagine he said what this is like. my wife is broken. we are dead inside he says, but we hope we have an angel to get my son out of there. the parents had another son who died of heart failure age 3. the boy's distraught mother writing on social media that her guardian angel won't let his little brother die. rescuers have found a few of the boys' hairs in the soil they dug out, but since sunday only silence since the moment he screamed plunging down a well as deep as a 30-story tower block. the boy's candy and his plastic cup were found deep down the well. now a parallel shaft four feet wide is being dug to allow rescuers to be lowered down to the boy's level. a team from sweden is bringing equipment used to pinpoint dozens of chilean miners trapped in a shaft seven years ago and finally rescued after two

months. last year, a dozen thai boys trapped in a cave were feared dead but rescued by divers. so in spain today, even at the rim of a foot wide hole, there is hope that a little boy might be saved. authorities say they think they can reach the spot where the little boy is within 24 to 48 hours, but there is no sign that he's in an air pocket and only evidence that, in fact, he may be covered in soil and rock. it's not looking good. authorities meanwhile, are investigating who dug the well and why on earth it wasn't fenced off. guys, back to you. >> you just pray for a miracle in a case like that. >> all right, bill, thank you. we turn now to al and a busy day in the weather. >> that's right, and we're looking ahead to the weekend. of course big football weekend earlier in the day, the saints will have been playing, but take

a look at what's happening in kansas city. on sunday, temperatures are going to be 20 to 30 degrees below average, and so arrowhead stadium at the start of the game central time, 5:40, could be a little light snow, 12 degrees for that game. the record coldest nfl game in the ice bowl green bay, december 31st, 1967, 13 below. thai not going to seven in minneapolis on sunday: cleveland by sunday, 18 degrees, 30 in memphis, and even down to 60 in tallahassee. it's going to be cold throughout much of the country by the weekend. next big storm makes its way into california. that's the one that's going to cause coast to coast misery, turning colder in the plains. icy travel in ohio into upstate new york and western p.a. sunshine through the southeast down into the gulf good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. we are in a microclimate weather alert, as storm ranger tracks our next significant storm to be moving into the bay area. we are going to see the rain

ramping up, going into late morning and early afternoon. heavy rain and some gusty winds likely, as we go into the 9:00 to 10:00 hour, seeing it in the north bay, the rest of the bay area once again a little bit later, but the brunt of the storm will hit us gradually winding down tomorrow. we will have some drier weather in time for the weekend. savannah. thank you so much. have you ever been told you have an allergy to penicillin? there's a new study that claims pretty much everyone who's been told that, it isn't true. >> what? >> coming up, the key questions to ask your doctor. plus, the future of fertility, the breakthrough giving hope to young cancer patients who may want to start their own family one day. plus, we're going to head to puerto rico to show you what happened when jimmy fallon performed along side lin-manuel miranda and the entire hamilton cast. have you seen those ads claiming people are leaving their own jobs to start their

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i have... ♪ this morning on in-depth today, an investigation into those free trial ads that you've probably seen on popular websites and social media that use fake headlines and endorsements including a certain member of the "today" show to help sell their products. >> i have to be honest, we're doing this story so that people will stop texting me. are you leaving the "today" show? no, i'm not. nbc's gadi schwartz is looking into this. this is really disturbing. actually, folks are getting scammed out of money. >> good morning, savannah. it seems like these ads and websites are everywhere these days. they catch your attention with a bold headline about your favorite celebrity using star power to trick you into getting a free trial of the product they support. those headlines are completely

fake, and those products never really are free. how are these companies selling free trials, and how are they getting away with it? this morning we're about to show you. the website seems so real. their ads click worthy. they can be easy to fall for. bogus headlines and ads showing up on popular sites like facebook using fake celebrity endorsements to sell you on free trial offers of skin care products or weight loss supplements. they say you only pay for shipping but slam you with the total cost if you don't return the products. from ellen degeneres to joanna gaines these celebs have been used to advertise these products. it even happened to "today" show co-anchor savannah guthrie. >> people that i know really well would text and say, hey, i heard about your new career move, and when i saw the articles, i could understand why people believed it because it looks really real.

>> savannah even tweeting, yes, this is not true. it's a scam. i saw one fan darlene smith replying i was suckered in, and i'm trying to get my money back. we reached out to find what made her click. >> i'm such an avid fan of hers, and i watch the "today" show every day. >> and that's how they hooked you in? >> that's how they hooked me in. >> the actual pages with those fake headlines are still up even though the links and sites don't work. >> even if a link no longer works, that doesn't mean that the same claims are not being made for the product somewhere else. >> let's break that down. the companies that sell these products hire affiliates to design ads and create websites. when you click on an ad the affiliate gets a commission. some consumers have caught on. the better business bureau says it's received 37,000 complaints and reports about free trials in the last three years. how do you track these companies

dou down? they don't make it easy. >> we're trying to reach the owner of a company that makes a product livaderma, do you know anything about that? okay. so you have nothing to do with skin care. i tried a different number. >> if you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again. >> another dead end. we switch to a toll free customer service number. >> i was calling about some complaints associated with the product livaderma, i was hoping to speak to a manager there. >> she puts me on hold, ten minutes until finally. there's no manager, okay. we're trying to figure out why there are fake advertisements selling your product under the names of several recognizable celebrities. so you're a customer service agent, and you're not in a position to answer that because you were not aware of that. >> i asked her something she might know. >> is there a time limit for customers to use their free trial. they get a 14-day period to try the product. where is that stated? it's on the website?

>> she wouldn't give me the website. after searching for ourselves, we found it buried on a different page in the terms and conditions, not easy to find. neither of the company addresses the bb says these websites usually don't list them and the only address they might get is a p.o. box or a return address on the package. we checked out this one in florida. the bbb says it's been linked to another product using savannah's name. we asked if they knew anything about these headlines. >> we don't have anything to do with the client's marketing or how they do the business. all we do is get orders and ship out for them. >> if you see these ads or headlines it's up to you. >> that customer service agent gave me an e-mail address over the phone. we reached out but it bounced back. we reached out to facebook to see why these ads and headlines pop up on their site. the company told us they're misleading and spammy.

they removed the ads about savannah. you can help. facebook says you can report any ad by clicking on the three dots on the top right corner. >> people have great intentions. they think, oh, i want that skin caroline. >> yeah. >> so gadi, how do you know if this is like a scam ad? is there something you could look for? >> the first thing you do is google it. you can check out the product name on the better business bureau's website, bbb.org and see if there are other complaints. always read the terms and conditions on those websites before you buy anything, especially if they say it's free. check the website or the social media accounts of the celebrity endorsing the product. if they're not promoting it on their pages, chances are they don't support it, and savannah it looks like you like soup and the eagles. >> and my kids, exactly. if i was going to start a company it would be like a tequila company, queso, sweatpants. it's not going to be skin care.

>> my dad got scammed. this same thing happened to him. i don't know why but he bought weight loss pills endorsed by blake shelton, and he told me one day tell your buddy blake i bought your weight loss pills. blake's like i have no idea what you're talking about. my poor father just got scammed, and i was like dad, you look great. what are you doing? >> exactly. >> i could see my mother-in-law. >> i can see how someone might get scammed. you do have nice skin. >> thanks. but no. >> up next, the uproar over netflix's biggest price increase ever. that's right after this. [ phone rings ] hi, tom. hey, how's the college visit? you remembered. it's good. does it make the short list? you remembered that too. yeah, i'm afraid so. knowing what's important to you... it's okay. this is what we've been planning for. thanks, bye. that's what's important to us. it's why 7 million investors work with edward jones.

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netflix that is not sitting well with binge watchers. >> a lot of talk about this one. netflix announcing tuesday it's raising subscription prices by 13 to 18%. the company's biggest price increase since launching its streaming service. we'll walk you through it. here's what that looks like for the roughly 58 million u.s. subscribers. the basic plan goes up a buck to $8.99 a month, and then both the standard and premium plans are going to go up $2. in a statement, here's what netflix said. we change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the jooverall netflix experience. many expect the company to focus on original content, shows like these, house of cards, stranger things and the movie bird box. news of the increase sparked plenty of backlash online. we'll get to some of them, johnny saying thanks netflix, you just lost a subscriber. josh adding yay, 300 more original shows no one will ever watch. paul saying no problem with

this, good product, and price is still lower than it could be. it will apply to new subscribers immediately. this comes on the heels of a potential crackdown on password sharing, a software engineer recently unveiled the way that they are flagging to cut down some of these shared accounts. if you know somebody who has a netflix account you can use their information and put it in there. that could hit subscribers down the road. stock was up 6% yesterday. shareholders and investors think it's a good idea. >> people stealing netflix, that's a thing? >> introducing the new ww. weightwatchers reimagined. freestyle is our most liveable program ever. for every body who wants the freedom to eat what they love and still lose weight for every body who wants to go out and not miss out and who wants to enjoy more with over 200 zeropoint foods. ww freestyle is proven to help people lose weight, sleep better, and feel happier

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right out in at 7:56, we are in a microclimate weather alert as we track an incoming storm and scattered showers on storm ranger, our mobile doppler radar. but the bulk of the storm is still offshore and even some lightning being picked up as we see that moving closer to the coast, and as we go into the afternoon. our winds will become more gusty and the rain will be a lot more widespread. right now, we are going to track the rain as we go throughout the day, seeing some waves of some widespread downpours. it may be heavy at times, moving through at noon, off and on rain, but some of the heaviest rain will be here in time for the evening commute, at 5:00, we're seeing some bright reds and yellows on here, and it will be all across the bay area. we will see the heavy rains starting to taper off, right around midnight, and then still some scattered rain in the forecast through early tomorrow. during this time, we're looking

at one to four inches of rain that could cause some brief flash flooding. i'll be watching for that, as we head over to mike, let's get an update on the commute. >> we're looking at oakland, the tail lights coming up here, brake lights as you travel north past the coliseum. arched the embarcadero exit we heard about a big pothole that may be being addressed right now. watch for that. we also have the mud coming down south 101 around the waldo grade. the rest of the bay is a pleasant drive. i didn't find a lot of rain but i found the wind in fremont. back to you. >> thank you so much. did you feel it, 3.4 magnitude quake shook up parts of the bay area this morning. it hit about 4:45 centered in piedmont. some people about 50 miles from there reported feeling it. no reports of damage, however. early morning fire critically injured two people in san francisco, started a little bit before 1:00 in the morning, damaged two buildings near the daly city border. in all, five people were injured, and firefighters say it

displaced 20 people. head to our home page for more video from the scene and of course more details. another local news update in half an hour. as a powerful stor team will be all over the story. today in the bay is bringing in crews early tomorrow-- to track possible flooding and damage. we )re going on early tomorrow morning... starting at 4 a-m. join us. good morning, it )s 7:26...

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, double trouble. back-to-back storms set to slam the country coast-to-coast with snow, sleet, and heavy rain. where is the winter weather headed? and how will it impact your weekend plans? al's got the latest forecast and what you need to know. plus, the future of fertility. we're taking a look at a medical breakthrough for children fighting cancer. the new procedure that doctors hope will give young patients a shot at starting their own families one day. >> someday he's going to ask me, can i have kids? or i'm ready to do this? or i'm ready to take these steps? and i can now look back and say i've done all i can to, you know, have that for you.

and hamming it up. jimmy fallon joins lin-manuel miranda and the cast of "hamilton" on stage in puerto rico. >> "the tonight show" takes in all the island has to offer, including some special surprises you won't want to miss, today wednesday, january 16th, 2019. ♪ >> from the farms of virginia. >> to new york city. hi, kids. >> hi to my mom in connecticut. >> shoutout to fordham university. go rams! ♪ >> celebrating my 30th birthday in the big apple. >> from chino hills, california. >> hi, dad. >> and good morning, everybody. welcome back to "today." it's wednesday morning. that is a hearty crowd. it is not warm out there, so we're so happy for these folks

who are standing out there. we can't wait to say hi. also, you see #mytodayplaza. that's our hint we want you to send in your videos using that hashtag. >> we want videos. we want more videos. record a quick message, where you're watching from. and upload it to the show, using the #mytodayplaza hash tag. and you can get on twitter or instagram. it's 8:00. a double-dose of extreme weather about to hit most of the country. some areas could get the heaviest snow they've seen in years, and al is on top of all of it. good morning. >> good morning, guys. and we have this first storm coming into california. it's bringing a lot of rain, wind, and snow. and in fact, we've got 32 million people under a wind advisory, blizzard warning, flood watch, high surf advisories, winter storm warnings, and winter weather advisories. rainfall generally throughout california 2 to 4 inches, but

upwards could be 9 inches, flash flooding, debris flows. and in the sierras we could see upwards of 3 feet of snow. now, that storm makes its way across. by thursday it's bringing snow to cleveland and buffalo. it's a quick round. it moves through rather quickly, especially along the east coast, and then by friday it moves into the northeast. again, just a dusting. maybe 1 to 2 inches of snow. this second storm, this one makes its way from california by friday. it's bringing snow to denver, omaha, and chicago. heavy rain as you make your way into the southern plains. by saturday the snow stretches all the way from arkansas into the northeast and new england, changing over to heavy rain from i-95 from new york down to washington, d.c. but then by sunday afternoon backside brings more snow. so it will end as snow. snowfall amounts right now, we don't want to put numbers on it, but moderate snow from northern missouri all the way into new england. we're looking at heavy snow from central ohio all the way into new england, and there's going to be a lot of rain with this system. it's going to be -- i mean, we're talking anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of rain from coastal new england all the way back down into arkansas and

texas. so, big effects for much of the country right through sunday. guys? >> you'll be keeping your eye on it, al. thanks. congress will skip its recess next week if there's no breakthrough on border wall funding and the government shutdown. the economic impact of this shutdown is turning out to be worse than expected. nbc's tom costello is at a food bank for government workers opening at the naval memorial in d.c. hey, tom, good morning. >> reporter: we're just a few blocks away from capitol hill. to put this into context, we're at the world central kitchen. this is the nonprofit emergency food relief really that was started by celebrity chef jose andres, and they are cooking up a lot. i've got with me chef tim kilcoyne right now. how many people are you expecting today? and why are you doing this? >> we're preparing meals for a little over 2,000 people. we don't know what to expect. you know, but it's -- we're a central kitchen at our core. this is what we do, we feed people in need, whether it's a natural disaster or what we're going through now.

it's just important to be here and what we do. >> reporter: yeah, you're about a half a mile from the steps of capitol hill, and even less from the white house, which is really kind of astonishing. it puts it all into perspective. keep this in mind. we've got 800,000 federal workers and their families, plus all of the contractors affected. 42,000 coast guard men and women yesterday learned they were not getting a paycheck. yet, they're out on the water often in very dangerous missions while their family members back on shore are having to go to food banks to get food for their kids and diapers. it puts it into context as this rolls on day after day with no end in sight. hoda, back to you. >> tom, thank you. now to major medical news this morning. a report says 95% of americans who have been told they have an allergy to penicillin do not. what does that mean for you and your children? nbc news medical contributor dr. natalie azar is here. and that is a breathtaking number. most people who think they have a penicillin allergy don't.

why? how did this happen? >> i know. this is really important news this morning, you guys. we've known for a couple of years now that of the 32 million people who are reported to have a penicillin allergy, greater than 90% of them can actually take penicillin safely. why can that happen? a lot of times what happens is that people mischaracterize an adverse reaction with an allergic reaction. so somebody might have nausea or an upset stomach and they call that an allergy, and something that happens frequently is that kids, for example, will have a virus. they miss or inappropriately get given antibiotics and then they develop a rash, when viruses can be accompanied by a rash, and they're mistakenly told they have a penicillin allergy. and this stays with them throughout their lives. >> if i'm a viewer, i'm confused. i think i have a penicillin allergy. why should i even try to take it? why shouldn't i just take something else? >> the goal of treating with antibiotics is always to use the most narrow spectrum possible. when you start using these broad spectrum antibiotics, number one, they're much more expensive

and they also feed into the whole antibiotic resistance problem. we really love penicillins because of their narrow spectrum, and they're relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of the other ones. >> folks are watching at home, what does dr. natalie recommend? >> this is actually for people who have a documented allergy in their record and also for clinicians. you've got to be diligent about asking people what their reactions are and really identifying is this a true allergic reaction. a real allergic reaction hives, wheezing, shortness of breath. if there's any concern at all, best thing to do is see an allergist. better to be safe than sorry, and get tested. >> dr. natalie, great information. we've got a little morning boost. you ready for this one? here's what happened when the world's most famous redhead, we're talking about prince harry, spotted a little girl holding a sign that said gingers unite. >> gingers unite. >> without the sign i can give you a hug.

what's your name? >> eliza. >> eliza. do you love the color of your hair? yeah? gingers rule. >> gingers rule. 4-year-old eliza morris got the royal treatment. he stopped, he chatted. i'm sure the mom is like omg, i can't believe this is happening. but what a sweet moment. >> she's so cute. i saw a picture i think on instagram of her just standing with her little sign wearing a red coat. the cutest. i could see why he stopped. >> the gingers are proud people, all the gingers that i know, very proud of that. much more ahead on this wednesday morning, including the future of fertility. how an entire group of people who didn't have much hope of starting families may get another chance. plus, their story gripped the nation. one year later, how the survivors of the so-called house of horrors in california, how they are doing now. first these messages. ♪ [ telephone ringing ]

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and helps stop the progression of joint damage. for people with moderate to severe psoriasis, 90% saw significant improvement. taltz even gives you a chance at completely clear skin. don't use if you're allergic to taltz. before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection, symptoms, or received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz, including worsening of symptoms. serious allergic reactions can occur. for all the things that move you. ask your doctor about taltz. we are back now at 8:13 with an update on a story that stunned the nation and made worldwide headlines. >> who could forget what happened here? we're talking about that so-called house of horrors in california. parents accused of torturing and enslaving most of their 13 children. >> one year later we are learning more about how those children are doing now. nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer has more on

this. good morning. >> reporter: guys, good morning. prosecutors say david and louise turpin inflicted unimaginable abuse on their children, except for the youngest, from starving them, to not allowing them to bathe. last year, the older turpin children egscaped and called 91. six of the children are minors. the seven adult children are now with the county and through their attorney, are sharing more about their lives. inside this southern california home, investigators say david and louise turpin abused 12 of their 13 children age 2 to 29 years old. some of them beaten, shackled and starved. did they realized magnitude of what they've been through? >> i'm not sure. they came from a situation that seemed normal to them, and now they're in a new normal, and so i think that they may spend a long time processing the two.

>> reporter: the seven adult turpin children know their story made headlines. >> none of the victims were allowed to shower more than once a year. >> reporter: now a year after their parents' arrest on abuse charges, the turpin children are learning to live on their own. >> for really the first time they're able to make their own decisions and decide what they're going to eat, decide where they're going to go, what they're going to study. >> reporter: how long does it take to adjust? >> they're still becoming independent, and they'll tell you that it's kind of a lifelong thing. >> reporter: the children haven't spoken to their parents since their arrest but will face them in court if they testify. are they prepared for that? >> that worries them, and it's not something they're looking forward to at all. >> reporter: their parents pleading not guilty to 50 charges of torture, false imprisonment, and child abuse facing the possibility of life in prison if convicted. >> they do worry about their parents, and i think at times they do miss their parents. >> reporter: how can they not be bitter?

>> they're not bitter. they really take every day as it is, as a gift. >> reporter: the adult turpin children who were so malnourished police thought they were minors, say they don't want to be seen as victims. >> they want people to know that they are survivors. they want to be independent now. >> reporter: together, they have endured the unimaginable, and as a new family have a new life. what's the relationship like between the older turpin children and the younger turpin children? >> well, the older children are extremely protective of the younger ones, so when they do have time together, there's a lot of nurturing. there's a lot of reassuring, and one of the things that they're grateful for is they've got each other. >> reporter: according to their attorney, the adult turpin children are in regular contact and have frequent visits with their younger siblings who, again, are in foster care. they have also naturally been very curious about what's being said about them and their

family. they followed news accounts and say they want to share their story together. but for now they're focused on starting over. a remarkable story from a remarkable group of survivors. guys, back to you. >> so much about the human spirit that they are able to come together, support each other, try to create a new life. they are incredible people. >> thank you, miguel. we will switch gears now, and al is watching closely what's happening in the weather. >> that's right. here comes that next big storm into california with rain and snow. that's eventually going to make its way coast to coast. snowy right now in the rockies turning colder in the plains. we've got some icy travel in the upper ohio river valley into western p.a. and upstate new york. plenty of sunshine from the mid-atlantic states down into the gulf coast. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in good morning. i'm carrie hall. we're in a microclimate weather alert as we use storm ranger to track the storm. light rain and breezy winds but the storm continues to move closer to the coast and by this afternoon, we could see some

rounds of some heavy rain along with some gusty winds. all of this has to move through. it will take awhile. as it does, it will brick the potential of 1 to 4 inches and 60-mile-per-hour gusts. this will be winding down for tomorrow into friday. looking at dry weather on saturday. t's your latest weathe. mr. melvin. >> all right, sir. thank you very much. carson daly. i pass off to you for "pop start." >> lots to get to today. "the tonight show with jimmy fallon" aired from puerto rico. jimmy took the show on the road to support efforts to help rebuild the area after hurricane maria as well as check out lin-manuel miranda reprice his role in "hamilton." when he arrived he thought why see hamilton when i could just be in hamilton? ♪ no matter what they tell you ♪ raise a glass to the four of us ♪ ♪ tomorrow there will be more of us ♪ ♪ we'll tell the story of tonight ♪ ♪ we'll tell the story of tonight's show ♪

♪ hey, hey, hey, hey ♪ hey, hey, hey, hey >> that's just pretty cool right there. >> lin said stepping back into the role of alexander hamilton is like riding a bike in new york city, meaning there have been a few obstacles along the way, but for the most part he remembered exactly what to do. alicia keys was announced as this year's host for the grammy awards. she posted a video to her youtube page sharing the moment she got the gig. needless to say she looks pretty excited. when she broke the news to her kids, they were a little less impressed. >> i have some good news, guys or i have some news. guess what? >> what? >> i am going to host the grammy's. >> what's the grammys? >> there you go. >> can't win them all.

the 15-time grammy award winner will be the fifth woman in history to host the awards show and the first to do it in 14 years. the 61st grammy awards take place february 10th. our congrats to alicia. that's awesome. a new episode of "six-minute marathon" with savannah, it's out today. guess who swung by for a little round of questioning? of course you know this, country superstar shania twain. >> best concert you ever went to? >> oh, definitely -- oh, that's really tough because i mean, i've been to a stone's concert so what tops that? >> you have? >> in cuba. >> okay. i think that's the best concert ever. >> what tops that? >> a shania twain concert. that would be a good time. have you ever been star struck? >> yes. >> who? >> i was awkward with madonna when i first met madonna. i've never met brad pitt but i already know i'm going to be awkward. >> i like that foreshadowing.

shania ended her six minutes with 17 answered questions. >> pretty good, right? >> for the hardcore fans you know that "the marvelous mrs. maisel" and amy schumer hold the record answering 25 questions in a six-minute marathon. a little useless trivia there. >> thank you, carson. thanks for the plug. >> thank you. now to our special series the future of fertility. >> that's right. and this morning we're talking about a unique program, and it's providing hope for young cancer patients who may want to start families of their own someday. nbc's senior national correspondent kate snow has got that story. good morning. >> reporter: this program at the children's hospital of philadelphia looks beyond just helping a patient beat cancer. it looks to their future. they're trying to help both girls and boys, but a recent breakthrough specific to boys who haven't hit puberty yet could help today's cancer survivors become tomorrow's fathers. sam hornacle was dealt a tough

hand early in life. at the able of 2 doctors discovered cancer. >> he had cancer that started in the prostate and had nowhere else to go. it was a fast growing tumor, and it went up and ballooned out into his bladder. by the time he was diagnosed he was 2 years, 3 months old, and it was the size of a grapefruit. >> the same day sam's family received this devastating news dr. jill ginsburg came to see them. >> she basically said that the treatment that sam's going to undergo he most likely will not be able to have children when he's older. that didn't really seem like a big deal to me at the time, but what seemed to be a big deal was that jill was looking to my son's future, and after a diagnosis that we got earlier that day we thought wow, there's hope he's going to make it through this. >> reporter: she's talking about him in the way future. he's 2 years old. >> absolutely. >> reporter: the study was borne out of success in fighting childhood cancer. the cure rate is now as high as 85% when chemotherapy is used,

but in boys that chemo, while life saving can destroy cells that will later produce sperm. >> in younger cases, the boys who haven't gone through puberty, they're not making mature sperm to be able to be saved. >> reporter: ten years ago they began asking families of boys if they would volunteer for a study. >> we started doing research and found that in animal models they're able to restore fertility using frozen testicular tissue, and so we wanted to sort of see if we could translate that to humans. >> reporter: here's how it works, while the patient is sedated for another procedure, doctors remove a tiny bit of testicular tissue. they send some to a lab for research and freeze the rest hoping one day in the future after the boy is cancer free they could reimplant that tissue

and prompt his body to start producing sperm, but that tiny sample doesn't have enough sperm stem cells so they needed a way to make more. >> to think about putting it back into the patient to restore the sperm would take millions and millions of these cells, so the roadblock to date has always been how to expand these sperm forming cells in the lab. and that's the step we think we've overcome now. >> reporter: the breakthrough came in this lab headed by dr. sandra riam. >> we took them. we isolate them. there are like 100 stem cells in there. >> reporter: and how many could you make? >> we made billions. >> reporter: billions? >> i mean, we can just grow them forever and ever. >> reporter: the researchers have not attempted to reinsert a sample of billions of sperm producing super cells into an adult man yet, but that's one path to fatherhood. another option would be maturing the cells in a petri dish and using the resulting sperm for in vitro fertilization. >> how far away are we from reaching those milestones and making this a possibility? >> within ten years. >> so that's for the boys that

are young right now. >> right now. >> that's hope for them. >> exactly. >> reporter: that includes sam. he's 12 and nearly ten years cancer-free. right now he's busy playing with his brothers, but his mom can't help but look to the future. >> someday he's going to ask me, can i have kids or i'm ready to do this or i'm ready to take these steps, and i can now look back and say i've done all i can to, you know, have that for you. >> reporter: to hopefully make that possible. you think you want to have kids when you're older? >> yes. >> reporter: you want to be a dad? >> yeah. >> reporter: for this young cancer survivor, a shot at a family of his own one day. so this breakthrough in the lab focused on reproductive tissue from young boys, but dr. ginsburg and her colleagues are also trying to help young girls with cancer. girls have millions of eggs when they're born so they're saving a sample of ovarian tissue that can hopefully be implanted when a girl is older and cancer-free as well. >> is there any correlation between the catalyst that made the sperm cells multiply to a billion that that same thing could be used for girls?

>> reporter: it's totally different for girls. we have more eggs already. it's kind of complicated. it's different processes but they're having some success. >> amazing breakthrough. >> wow, wow, wow. i )m ... we are in a microclimate weather alert - with a major storm approac 8:26. i'm markus washington. we're in a microclimate weather alert with a major storm approaching. meteorologist carrie hall is tracking that coming storm. >> it's breezy, mostly cloudy. we're only seeing scattered showers. this is a large storm. we are seeing some lightning offshore as it moves closer. we'll see more coverage of the rain by late morning early afternoon. the brunt of the storm will be in time for the evening commute by 5:00, we're getting heavy rain and gusty winds. that will continue for several hours till it tapers off later on tonight. as we check out the seven-day forecast, still looking at gusty winds in the morning and then

some clearing in time for the weekend. let's get an update on the commute. >> 880 north with the arrow there, it's not there in real life. a smoother flow. that big pothole is no longer there. they cleared around fifth. over here, slowing south 101. it's jammed coming out of san rafael. the slow lane is blocked because of mud that's come down. we're looking at south 680 and across the crash at marina vista block one lane. the rest moves nicely. in towards sunny valley, a crash around lawrence expressway. >> more local news in 30 minutes.

puerto rico. tonig . hey, everybody, 8:30 on this wednesday morning. it's january the 16th, 2019. we are stepping outside. >> love it. >> al, what's the temperature roughly would you guess? >> it's about 28. >> 28 degrees outside. we want to give a big hats off to our amazing crowd who showed up in this freezing weather. >> yes. >> i know. >> is that crazy? where is -- where are shelby and

john? >> right here. >> what? wait. savannah, carson, al, craig, i don't know if you guys recognize these two, but they were here yesterday. >> were they? >> i love this show. i've got you guys on record when i have to go to work unfortunately in the week days. i'm all about you all. >> you all are from denton texas. what are you celebrating? >> our two-year anniversary. >> and you're a firefighter? >> yes, ma'am. >> thank you so much for coming and spending your anniversary and coming out two days in a row. >> two days in a row, and it is not warm out here. we've got to do a pic. >> love you guys. >> we're ready. >> ready? >> we're ready. >> nice. >> you've got it. thank you, guys. >> happy anniversary. >> thank you. still coming up this morning, we're going to share a few laughs with sebastian maniscalco, one of the most successful standup comedians on the planet and now a huge hit in hollywood. looking forward to that. we all of course know our beautiful fantastic talented production assistant issamah.

her recipes have made her instagram famous. she is a sensation. this morning samah has a delicious recipe but also some excitiing news. >> ooh. coming up after that exciting news in the third hour of today we're going to catch up with eugene levy and catherine o'hara to talk about their 40-year friendship and the new season of their hit show that we can't say on morning tv. it's a great show, though. >> absolutely hilarious. we're going to be talking about the future of flight, taking it to new heights with the aircraft that could very well change how we all fly. >> first, al, i've got to get a check of that weather. >> oh, that baby. wait, hold on. we've got to show that baby. can we? oh, i love babies. >> as you were, al. >> all right. now, back to the maps.

first of all, we start with today, icy travel through the ohio river valley turning colder in the plains. next big storm comes into the west coast today, rain and snow, and that creates heavy snow for the sierra, a flood threat for southern california. first low brings light snow into the ohio river valley, and eventually the northeast. rain down through the gulf, suns good morning. i'm meteorologist carrie hall. widespread rain later on this morning. but the heavy rain will get here along with gusty winds in time for the evening commute. we're seeing a pretty good coverage throughout the day. the brunt of the storm moving through during the evening to overnight hours. then it will be tapering off. still some rain chances into the start of the day tomorrow as the gusty winds start to calm down. by friday and saturday, some dry weather and another chance of rain on sunday.

and that is your latest weather. get ready to laugh. this guy right here, the hilarious sebastian maniscalco is here. he sold out the garden four nights. he's with us today. are you going to hang with us for a minute? >> absolutely. >> what are you eating? oh, wow. >> first this is "today" on nbc. >> am i going

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get a ford. if you want a car that doesn't have any of that, get anything... but a ford. otherwise, you're gonna want a ford. ♪ is this a morning thing? >> it's a morning thing. >> it's a big week for comedian sebastian maniscalco. >> it sure is. he is playing madison square garden to a sellout crowd this week. they had to add another show because he kept selling them out. he's got a new netflix special. first a look at why sebastian is one of the biggest names in standup. >> you ever dress an infant? they have no core, so [ laughter ] >> seb seb selling out shows at

marquee venues like new york city radio music hall and madison square garden. now he's starring in a new netflix special called stay hungry. >> got to go to a body shop, you ever go there? man, they're waiting for you. and they swarm the car. i thought i was at a cirque du soleil show. they were [ laughter ] >> what'd my sister have to say about you being gone for a few weeks? >> he's also on the big screen with a role in the film green book from universal pictures. from the screen to the stage, sebastian maniscalco is a star or as his father might say, a big shot. >> i got my father here. and he's planning a whole day today. i'm playing radio city tonight.

what you're too big now? big shot? a big, big shot? you can't go out to lunch with your father? [ laughter ] >> big shot. hey, sebastian. we talked about your dad. do you think your mom's watching you this morning? i told my mom she's doing the "today" show. she's like you made it. it's happening. >> that's all it took, huh? >> that's all it took. first of all, congrats on selling out msg. >> that's incredible. >> that's the venue, right? >> the netflix special, the book, i mean. >> it's been nuts. i've always had a great following here in new york city. i started at gotham comedy club and the beacon and radio city, and now madison square garden. i think people are resonating with, you know, my crazy father, my immigrant upbringing, and, yeah, so we got 80,000 people coming out to the show. >> what's it been like, just this whole ride? you know, once i think i've hit like a really good milestone another one happens, so i'm just

really, really appreciative for all the success. i've been doing this now for 20 years, and it's nice to share with my family. i've got my wife here and my little daughter, my father's coming in. my mother's coming in, sister. >> you've got a baby on the way, you've got a little boy on the way? >> little boy. >> another one on the way. >> what are you going to do with a little boy? what's going to happen there? >> you know, my father wasn't really patient with me growing up, so i don't know anything. like, i don't know how to fix anything. like, i would start doing something and he would be like get out of here. i got to go to work. so hopefully i can be a little more patient with my son and teach him the things he needs to know. so yeah, it's all good. >> green book did well at the globes. did you go to the golden globes? >> no, that's another thing. my father -- we're watching it at home, is he's like why aren't you there. i go, dad, i wasn't invited. what do you mean invited. you were in the show. it's hard to kind of tell my parents like i don't have just the authority to sit down at the

table at the golden globes. somebody has to ask me to go. so yeah, i don't know. he wants to go to the oscars. like, he wants to go to these things. >> that's how it is with parents. he's like are we going to be rocking down the red carpet. what do you mean we? i could barely get there. everybody wants tickets. >> you have so many cool things going on in your life. there's another movie coming out with this crazy all star cast, the irishman. >> peschi, pucino. >> pucino? >> how do you get the call to go to this movie? >> i auditioned. >> did they pick you? >> i've had this on my radar the last three or four years. i told my agent if you get a chance to get me in, get me in. i screwed up the audition bad. >> i was in there, you know what they told me, you're looking really good for this part, that's all i have to hear and i sabotage it.

>> if they would have told me, you're a long shot, never going to happen. >> they tell me i almost got it and i unravel. >> so what happened after that bad audition? >> they gave me another shot to do it again on tape, and i sent it in or they sent it in to scorsese, and he liked me for another role, this crazy joe gallo role. >> but in the movie. >> in the movie. >> you're sitting across these a-listers, these actors who have won all kind of awards. were you freaking out? >> sweating. >> praying you were going to make it through your lines? >> what do they say to you? >> i don't say anything. i'm just there, i'm hoping not to get fired. so i'm not going to be talking to like peschi and de niro going loved you in casino. i would just sit there with my hands folded. there was a part where we had to do lighting and me and de niro were standing eye to eye, and we're looking right at each other, and i'm like i'm not going to talk unless he talks. >> you're about to start the scene? >> what are you doing?

>> nothing, it was like a stare off for two minutes. the guy didn't say anything. >> what was he doing? >> he was just looking right at me. and then -- >> is he in character or? >> i don't know what he was in. i didn't want to ask. i don't know what he was doing. and then at one point he goes your tie is not tied right, and he just cinched it, and i go, oh, my god. you fixed my tie. >> he could have choked you out. >> yeah, it was. >> did you go to acting school, or like how did you get your acting? >> i take classes with an acting coach, and anytime i get a part, i work with her, and -- but i didn't have any formal training. i didn't go to, you know, like acting school. >> when you step on the stage at msg and it's fun, like do you get a rush? do you get scared? what goes on there? >> it's leading up to it, which is the problem. once i'm on stage everything's fantastic. now it's, what, wednesday. it's just like i wish the show

was tonight, you know. there's a lot of press involved with it all. >> the buildup to it. >> but once you're there, you feel confident. >> it's exciting. come on, madison square garden. >> was it three or four nights? >> two nights, two shows a night. we still got tickets on sale. >> not many. people got to buy them. they're going fast. >> now it seems like you're there. now you could go any path you want. you could still do the specials, the books, the movies, the acting, have maybe your own thing, like a seinfeld thing comes to mind. where do you see this headed? >> i like doing standup. >> control your dad is the first thing. >> if i could control my father, that'd be fantastic. >> he'll have something to say about this. >> tv, if there's an opportunity that comes along, fantastic. i'm happy doing standup comedy. >> thank you for joining us. good luck, have fun. >> don't forget his comedy special "stay hungry" streaming on netflix right now. i'm glad you mentioned food.

our resident foodie has a recipe that's going to satisfy our sweet tooth. and no guilt, right? first this is "today"

and we're back with today's food. we've got exciting news to share, samah dada our amazing lead production assistant by day also happens to be an instagram star with more than 106,000 followers of her account, dada eats. we've had her on the show before sharing some of her recipes with healthy twists. now she's going to be sharing a little more with you online with a new "today" digital series called #cooking. with more on that, savannah. >> that's right. we are so excited, and samah is right here to tell us all about it. i was just saying it could not happen to a better or nicer or more talented person. >> thank you so much. >> tell us about #cooking. >> i'm so excited about it. it's so fun.

it's really casual. it's like you're in the kitchen with me. we're cooking together some of my favorite recipes. of course they're healthy but a little bit indulgent. >> and you're going to make it easy for us, like me and hoda we're not that good at cooking. >> things you can bring to a dinner party, make for your kids, if you're cooking for one, it's all of that. we've got it covered. >> remember when samah did her first segment, she had 35,000 followers, she's up to 100,000. if you're not following dada eats, this is your time. >> today we are going to be making a chocolate chip tahini cake with a vegan chocolate frosting. very minimal ingredients. we've got some eggs, vanilla, the base of this roecipe is tahini. if you don't know what tahini is -- i was about to ask but i didn't want to sound dumb. >> not dumb at all. what tahini is they're hulled sesame seeds ground into a paste. the consistency is similar to an almond butter or a peanut butter but adds an amazing profile.

you can get it at any store. you're probably used to seeing it in a hummus, topping roasted vegetables. i love putting it in deserts. it undercuts the sugar, it balances out the chocolate and it's really delicious. we've got our tahini. i'm going to add in two eggs. we're going to whisk this together. i will note that if you can't have eggs, if you're vegan, we do have an egg replacement. it's called flax egg. what you do is you mix two tablespoons of ground flaxseed with five tablespoons of warm water. let that sit, hang out for a second. it gets really thick and like this gel like consistency, and it's easily replaceable with eggs. >> a good egg substitute. it's like a little binder in this recipe. >> now we're going to add in our coconut sugar. we've got coconut sugar which is my favorite unrefined sweetener. it adds this warm caramelly taste to any recipe. them some almond milk. >> that's not butter. even i know that. >> and we're going to put

vanilla extract in there. we're pretending this is all nice and whisked, and now we're moving on to our flour. >> these are our dry ingredients. >> perfect, you're just killing over here. keep on whisking. i've got almond flour and i'm going to add coconut flour and baking soda. these are amazing flours. i love to use these. they're grain free, gluten free, and you feel like you're eating real whole groeingredients. >> i'm going to whisk this until it's smooth. once you've whisked in all the dry ingredients we're going to combine them both. we're going to toss this in there. we're getting a nice arm workout. >> it's a real tricep workout for me. >> this is how we're accomplishing our 2019 fitness goals is making this cake. >> start today. >> no time like the present. >> we would put it together. it would end up looking like this. >> it really gets you. we've got chocolate chips. you know i love chocolate. we love chocolate.

>> are those real? are they real chocolate chips? >> the whole thing is real, carson. >> not so far. [ laughter ] >> so we're going to fold this in, and then we'll just transfer it to our prepared pan. >> yep. >> i've lined this with parchment paper with these little flaps over the side so when you bake it you're going to be able to easily lift it up. >> do you butter the paper or no? >> you can put a little bit of coconut oil on there so it's easy to remove. don't forget to top this with chocolate chips. we want some more chocolate, looks good for the photo. all that. >> now let's do our vegan frosting. >> what's amazing with this frosting, i'm glad you like it. there are only four ingredients. it's vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and you would not believe it if you tasted it. ly confess, i sometimes make this and keep it in the fridge for emergencies. always chocolate emergencies. so we're starting with our almond butter here. we're going to add cocoa powder. i'm going to give that to you.

got a little bit of maple syrup. >> more whisking. i'm exhausted. >> and then some almond milk. depending on what kind you use, you want it to be nice and creamy. if you need a little bit more, if you want it to be a little thinner, you can just add more. >> can i ask another dumb question? why is it always whisking? i hate how the whisk gets dirty like this. >> we want to make sure it's nice and -- >> we're going to end up with this nice thick frosting. if you want it to be thicker add more almond butter. if you want it to be thin. >> no, no, i'm good. i need a workout. this is what we're going to end up with, this nice creamy frosting and we're going to frost our tahini cake. >> you wait until that cools, radioig right. >> it's not a huge deal when it's not 100% cool. we're going to go ahead and do this. i'll handle this. i've got this. >> you think i'm not up to it. challenge accepted samah.

okay. >> let's go, let's go. >> oh, yeah. >> don't tell me i can't. >> and then we're just going to smooth that on there. >> smooth it out. >> like spackling frosting. >> this is a gluten free recipe as well. add a vegan frosting on top. what do you guys think? do you like it? >> very good. >> could you ever sprinkle a little sea salt on top or something? >> for sure. >> savannah. >> you know who i learned that from, siri daly. >> before you leave for that cosmetics company. >> i know, exactly. >> just in time. >> i know, exactly. >> a little dessert wine. >> dada eats on instagram. are you following her? no go follow her. >> 10,000 just now. in two minutes. you can find out everything you want to know. we're back in a moment, this is "today" onbc. thank nyo

kari hal

welcome back, we're just trying to do an update on samah's instagram to see how she's doing. >> up to 113,000. check out today.com/allday. 15-year-old internet sensation jojo opens up about finding fame at such a young age and she says thank you to her online critics. our full six-minute marathon with shaniya twain. she talked a lot about forgiveness, today.com/allday has all that. speaking of country stars, just ahead we've got a live performance lined up from cody johnson. this guy is a big name right now. >> someone's c

good wednesday morning. we are in a microclimate weather alert. right now at 8:56, we track our next storm moving. rain still well offshore. moving closer as we get cloudy skies and winds right now. this is the storm that will be moving in. we can see the satellite imagery and even lightning strikes

starting to move closer to the coast. the rain will become more widespread. mostly starting out in the north bay with the rest of the area seeing heavier downpours during the afternoon. our forecast shows we'll deal with that tomorrow but drying out for the weekend and another chance of shurnz sunday. we'll have more live updates all throughout the morning. happening now, a 3.4 magnitude earthquake shook parts of the bay area this morning around 3:45 centered need piedmont. some people reported feeling it, as well. no reports of damage. an early morning fire critically injured two people in san francisco. it started before 1:00 this morning and damaged two buildings here the daly city border. five people were injured and firefighters say it displaced 20 people. go to our homepage for more. as

team will be all over the story. today in the bay is bringing in bracing for the next round. >> we'll bring you complete conch. >> we'll track possible flooding and damage. >> we're going on early tomorrow morning as you mentioned 4:00 a.m. join us.

from nbc news this is today, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and a good wednesday morning, everyone. welcome, thanks for sticking around, craig here along with al rok roker, dylan dreyer, sheinelle jones. >> good morning. >> good morning to you as well have you ever seen one of those ads, typically on social media for something fake, something that's not real? >> the challenge is you don't know they're fake sometimes. >> because they do a good job. >> i assume they're all fake. >> do you? >> all ads are fake. >> some of them are so believable. i saw one where it was like hoda kotb is leaving the "today"